Very many of Nigeria’s rich people have either been in government or around government. Somehow this is the grim reality the raging thunderstorm over the remuneration of legislators is opening the public eye to.
And so questions are thundering in: Is governance about enriching people in government or the governed? Why are people in government making so much money, while poverty spreads in a potentially rich country? Many questions!
Although there are no ready figures, those available validate the skewed income distribution in Nigeria, and growing poverty and desperation.
One: In making the case for Microfinance banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria acknowledged that Nigeria has a highly unequal income distribution profile: about eight percent of those that have access to financial services own about 90 per cent of the available deposits..
Two: According to The World Distribution of Income by Xavier Sala-i-Martin, one of the largest increases in poverty rates occurred in Nigeria, rising from 14.5 percent of the population in 1970 to over 50 per cent in 2000.
Three: Poverty in Nigeria worsens: According to the Gini coefficient, commonly used as a measure of inequality of income or wealth, in 2003, the lowest 10 of the population owned only 1.9 per cent of the national income, while the highest 10 per cent owned 33.2 per cent. Also, according to the 2010 Global Monitoring Report of UNESCO, about 92 per cent of the Nigerian population survive on less than $2 daily, while about 71 per cent survive on less than $1 daily. By this popular measure, about 70 per cent of the country’s population are poor.
During the period under consideration, the country, blessed with enormous oil and gas resources, an array of minerals and rich, arable land, enjoyed five oil booms.
Whatever happened to governance, when it is to guarantee the socio-economic and human rights of the people? It is governance that creates an enabling environment for jobs to be provided; for food to be put on the table; and for people to sleep with both eyes closed in a secured environment.
In the current Nigerian situation, it looks like only people in government are guaranteed all that. With progressive national socio-economic infrastructure decay, the lack of basic amenities and an environment of high cost of living, the living standards of the people has continued to fall.
Worse, there is growing unemployment and widespread poverty in an environment with growing insecurity such that innocent people are easily kidnapped from places of worship, leisure or work.
Of course, in advancing the case of Nigeria’s rich and poor, I do not forget the subset of honest Nigerians who made their wealth through ingenuity, tenacity and hard work. I hold in very high esteem people like the Samuel Adedoyins, the Dangotes, the Akintola-Williams, some of today’s resourceful bankers and others in the private sector.
The problem really is with people in the set of the rich who are obligated to ensure the welfare of the people they govern. A trend is becoming discernable: Take the selfless founding fathers of the nation, some of who lived humble and frugal lifestyles. Take people like the late former Prime Minister, Tafawa Balewa.
Please, let’s cut!
Enter the military: Apart from a very few, the military governments enriched all of its officials. Today, long after the military era, they are still rich.
The story has not changed, even with the return of democracy. The system tends to enrich the people in government. Current remuneration levels in estimated annual salaries, allowances and fringe benefits of the nation’s political office holders at all tiers of government is estimated at some N1.3 trillion.
Hot on the debating table is the disproportionate remuneration of the federal lawmakers, which is the highest in the world. In some calculations, some five per cent of the country’s annual budget is spent on the 109 Senators and 360 members of the House of Representatives.
But the issue doesn’t stop there. Much of the wealth of this group of rich Nigerians is by looting. Evidence of this is not difficult to find. Nuhu Ribadu’s battle with some former state governors who looted their state treasuries is one.
The recent remarks of his successor, Farida Waziri is another. She described the House of Representatives as a centre of scandals.
Also, hard as some people try to paper up massive bribery scandals such as the Halliburton and Siemens scandals, there is enough information in the public domain already.
But in the Nigerian reality, those in government do not seem to care about the people who “put them there” assuming their votes counted. To get into office, they promise perfectly selfless and virtuous intentions. They want to feed the poor, house the homeless, and cure the sick. But it is all looking like the system was never intended to serve anyone other than those who control it.
So bad is the gulf between the rich and poor in Nigeria that any “government of the people” must be seen to address the imbalance. President Goodluck Jonathan, who offers a fresh breath of air, should make governance benefit the poor too.
I do not recommend a Robin Hood–type of income redistribution which normally attracts hostile reaction from the rich. Nigerians are very resourceful. Many of them can make decent livelihood if infrastructure like electricity is functional. Government should faithfully discharge its obligation to the people by making social and economic amenities available.
Additionally, there should be carefully planned income redistribution to benefit the poor majority of Nigerians through progressive taxation and welfare or increased generousity to the poor.
Like President Lula of Brazil, the most popular politician in the world, let people in government show concern for the governed, particularly the poor.
